Inspired somewhat by the recent Archer three episode “season bridge” that proved less entertaining than the previous two seasons, I hate saying “you should watch this, it’s great!” because it always winds up disappointing. In fact, with Archer, I started a thread elsewhere lauding the show only to have the new episode be pretty “eh”.
A while back, my sister-in-law finally tuned into Mad Men… during one of those S3 episodes that was more heavy plot-based stuff of interest to devotees than the sharply written S1/S2 episodes that pulled people in to start with.
That’s not even counting the “just didn’t take with them” things like music or games. I stopped recommending online games because I always felt guilty about people dropping money on the box and/or a monthly subscription just to stop after four or five days.
Anyone else feel like they either get “burned” whenever people get around to finally experiencing your lauded entertainment or feel somewhat responsible (however irrationally) for their wasted time? I suppose this could have gone to IMHO but I figured people might want to discuss specific shows/movies/musicians/etc that failed to make the grade.
I think this happens to Phish fans a lot.
(I am not a Phish fan.)
This is why “try it before you buy it” business models are so good for the consumer. Maybe not the producer though.
I try to give a list of options when recommending stuff so they can pick one that will be relevant to their interests.
That being said, I have been frustrated sometimes when recommending things. Like The Wire. It’s slow to get going but it gets really good! I promise! Just give it 4-5 episodes, don’t quit after 2. Please?
Yep, I am very cautious about recommending new stuff to people.
As an example, a few weeks ago we were in the breakroom and one of the answers to a quiz was the author Terry Pratchett. One of my bosses had never heard of him and was puzzled as to why the quiz made him out to be so famous. Now, me and my coworker are both fans and have read most of his books and so it fell to us to tell the boss what this guy had written.
Anyway, my coworker starts explaining and it’s suddenly very clear that we have a different approach; coworker starts explaining that its a very funny book were weird things happen, and just to show you how weird things are, the whole world there is disc shaped and sits on three elephants on top of a turtle and there are these funny wizards that…
To me, thats not the way to do it! I would have gone with ‘Its a parody of Lord of the Rings type books, with a very dry sense of humour and silly logic that makes sense in very clever ways.’ Let the subject decide whether the book or whatever is suitable!
My coworkers approach made me think of that person who talks to you at parties about their interesting thing and you just nod and smile, nod and smile, and hope they’ll finish soon…
Yeah, it’s hit or miss, even with people you know. But, the same thing holds in reverse. I started a thread the other day about being shocked at how bad 30 Rock is. I’d never seen it before this week when it started airing on Comedy Central, and I can’t recall ever hearing a bad word about it.
But there are some exceptions. If someone is asking about a specific genre that you know well, you can at least mention the classics of the genre. At least there is a better than 50/50 chance they’ll like them.
I love recommending stuff. I am an entertainment pusher, in fact. What I enjoy, I enjoy thoroughly, and so very much of it is stuff that no one else knows about–so I’m constantly trying to get other people into it. I tend to have a pretty good track record, though there have been some disasters (like when I tried to get my British-hating friend to watch Doctor Who–he didn’t even give it a chance).
Now, you should all go watch Mongrels.